By Paul Freeman [May 2015 Interview]

She’s the Vice-President of the United States. She’s an FBI agent. She’s trailblazing surgeon Dr. Ellis Grey. She’s Hedda Gabler.

Kate Burton is many things. Most noticeably, she’s an actor who manages to be utterly convincing in every character, through every line of dialogue, with every nuanced expression or gesture, in every play, film and TV show she graces with her presence.

Born in Switzerland, raised in Manhattan, she is the daughter of Richard Burton and his first wife, Sybil (Williams), a Welsh actress, later a New York theatre figure and founder of the trendy discotheque called Arthur. Burton’s stepfather, Jordan Christopher, was an actor and rock singer.

Since the early 80s, Kate Burton has carved out her own impressive acting niche. Her extensive stage work earned Tony nominations for her performances in Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler,” a revival of “The Elephant Man” and The Constant Wife.” She was also in the cast of the acclaimed Broadway musical “Spring Awakening.”

Burton appeared in such films as “Big Trouble in Little China,” “The First Wives Club” and “The Ice Storm.” She played the mother of James Franco’s character, Aron Ralston, in the true life drama “127 Hours.”

On television, Burton has made lasting impressions, starting with the title role in the 1983 PBS “Great Performances” production of “Alice in Wonderland.” In addition to guest shots on dozens of series, she enjoyed recurring roles in “Law & Order,” “The Practice” and “Rescue Me.” Burton was a Daytime Emmy winner in 1996 as Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Special, in the ABC Afterschool Special, “Notes for My Daughter.” She was also memorable in the HBO mini-series “Empire Falls.”

Burton plays Dr. Ellis Grey (earning Emmy nominations in 2006 and 2007) on the iconic medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” and the right-wing Vice-President (now former Vice-President) Sally Langston on the enormously popular “Scandal” (for which she earned a 2014 Emmy nomination). She can also currently be seen in a riveting portrayal of FBI agent Vera Quinn for DirecTV’s “Full Circle.” Burton is now filming episodes of the Halle Berry series “Extant.”

Kate Burton is also a wife and mother. She is married to Michael Ritchie, Artistic Director of the Center Theatre Group of Los Angeles. They have a son, Morgan, and daughter Charlotte.

When we interviewed Ms. Burton, she was about to participate in the reading of short fiction for the popular public radio show “Selected Shorts.” She generously took time to talk with PCC.

POP CULTURE CLASSICS:
You’ve performed on “Selected Shorts” many times over the years. Are you particularly fond of short-form fiction?

KATE BURTON:
To be honest, it’s not a form that I often read. I’m more drawn to long-form fiction. So every time I read a story for ‘Selected Shorts,” it’s an opportunity for me to discover it. And I also get to listen to the other wonderful stories read by brilliant actors.

Also, the quality of the stories you read in “Selected Shorts” is so high, stories that you would find in very high-brow publications like The New Yorker. You really do read the A-plus, cream of the crop stories. I’ve recorded a lot of fiction for books on tape. And frankly, though they’re all wonderful, they’re not on the same level as these short stories.

As I said, I’m not a huge short story reader, partly because “Selected Shorts” provides me with so much content. But the first time I ever read Alice Munro, for instance, was when I was reading one of her short stories for “Selected Shorts.” And what a gift that was. I got to know her stories and a friend gave me one of her many collected volumes and she’s one of the most brilliant writers ever. So that was truly wonderful.

PCC:
For you, it’s an opportunity to get a story across to an audience in a different way?

BURTON:
What’s nice, of course, is that, when you record these stories, they’re there forever. And people are always telling me, “Oh, I heard you read a story on the radio.” That always makes me so happy, because I just think that’s such a nice thing - somebody’s sitting in their house or their car and they’re listening to “Selected Shorts.” It provides such wonderful gifts to the radio listening community.

You pay a great deal of attention to the storytelling. The great thing about reading a story, as opposed to playing a part in any medium is that you’re really controlling the entire narrative. It’s a very natural process. And it’s a real collaboration, just like any great theater, a collaboration with the audience, because you’re having to make a connection with them.

The audience might discover a new writer or they might discover that a writer that they thought always wrote in a certain way actually has other attributes. For instance, a few years back in Boston, I read a story of Dorothy Parker’s. And if you had not told me she had written it, I would never have known it was her - a very young, innocent story, not a sarcastic story. [Laughs] It was just the most fantastic story about a young couple on a train.

PCC:
Do you get to choose your stories for “Selected Shorts?

BURTON:
What’s so wonderful about Kathy Minton [Katherine Minton, Director of Literary Programs at New York’s Symphony Space] and everybody who works at “Selected Shorts,” they have this vast repertoire of material that they continually cull through to find the freshest, most wonderful stories. I always trust Kathy to choose the right material for me. She asks me if I want to read it first and decide if it’s one I want to do. I tell her, “I don’t need to read the story. I know that you’ve chosen something wonderful for me.” She always chuckles at that.

And it’s the sweetest thing. Linda Lavin, the great actress, she said at one of these previous evenings, “Who knew that grown-ups liked to be told stories?” [Laughs] And it’s the simplest and purest thing that we do as actors, because we are interpreters of other people’s words. We tell other people’s stories for a living. This is an opportunity for us to not only do that, but to also play all the parts… and to narrate [laughing again].

PCC:
Beyond “Selected Shorts,” this is a busy time for you?

BURTON:
Actually, this weekend I’m in Atlanta. My daughter is going to the Shaky Knees music festival and my plan is to read my story for “Selected Shorts” and to learn my lines for the television show that I’m shooting on Tuesday.

PCC:
Which television show are you shooting on Tuesday?

BURTON:
Right now, I’m doing “Extant” with Halle Berry for CBS. I just finished shooting “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal,” for the season. I’ve finished my work for those two shows. I recur on both of those two shows. And I’m very excited to say that I’ve just been cast, as of last week, in Shakespeare in the Park, in New York City, at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. In the summer, I’m doing “Cymbeline,” the second show. I’ve just decided to do that. After my television and my “Selected Shorts,” I will be sweating it out in New York City, doing a little known Shakespeare play.

PCC:
“Extant,” is that an effects-heavy show?

BURTON:
I think so. Actually, another thing I’m going to do this weekend is watch a lot of last season’s episodes, because I only saw little bits. I’ve shot an episode already. But now I’m going to be shooting at least three, maybe more, before I go to New York. So I’ve been very blessed. I’ve had a lot of very interesting, very varied work. And, as you know, “Extant” is a sci-fi show, starring the amazing Oscar winner Halle Berry and also wonderful other actors, as well, particularly Grace Gummer, who I’ve known since she was a young person. So it’s been really, really wonderful. And the greatest thing of all is that it shoots 15 minutes from my house [laughs].

PCC:
What’s your character in “Extant”?

BURTON:
I play the Secretary of State. I am a very powerful political person, which I don’t ever play on any other show [laughs]… No, I’m teasing. I don’t know if you know this, but I play the Vice-President on “Scandal.” But now my character lost the election last year, so my character has become like Mike Huckabee, a conservative talk show host. And it’s a heck of a lot of fun. I’ve had some fun, fun times. I did two episodes this last season. So it was really great.

PCC:
You’re a precursor to our having a woman in the Oval Office?

BURTON:
One can only hope. Yes, exactly.

PCC:
“Grey’s Anatomy,” has that been a special role for you, as well?

BURTON:
Oh, my goodness, yes! I’ve been on “Grey’s” since the beginning, the pilot. And I’ve played Ellen Pompeo’s mother, Ellis Grey. And after three seasons, my character died. But I have gone back now, gosh, about four times. I come back in flashbacks. And last week, there was a two-hour special evening, because a huge character in the show had had a demise, so the episode I was in was sort of a two-hour, kind of dealing with the loss of this character. And Ellen Pompeo, who plays my daughter, was dealing with the loss of her husband and she was remembering and then it was flashing back to me dealing with great losses in my life. So it was really kind of an extraordinary thing. I still have to watch that episode, which I didn’t get to see last week.

PCC:
That’s a show that’s managed to stay creatively vibrant for so many years.

BURTON:
Well, you know, Shonda Rimes, who creates this content for all the actors, but I have to say, particularly for us female actors, she’s created so much extraordinary work for us. Between “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal,” the two shows that I’ve been on with her, I’ve gotten to play some of the greatest scenes I’ve ever played in any medium… and some of the greatest writing. She’s unwavering in her devotion to creating fantastic stories and a lot fantastic stories happen to have fantastic female protagonists. You know, she’s even got another one, called “The Catch,” which is coming along, which was just picked up, I guess. I just heard the ABC rundown yesterday. So it’s thrilling to be part of her world. And I’m eternally amazed at her ability to create all these different story lines, all these different flavors of stories.

Again, as I was talking about “Selected Shorts,” what we do as actors is we tell stories and help writers tell their stories. And I don’t know where I got hit with the lucky stick to be in her firmament, because it’s been extraordinary.

PCC:
But even knowing her work, her track record, were you surprised that “Scandal” became such a phenomenon?

BURTON:
You know, it was really interesting, because when “Grey’s” first started, we came out of the park like a comet. And we attributed it quite a bit to the fact that we had an incredible lead-in show, which was “Desperate Housewives.” And that show was fantastic. Because of them, we had this extraordinary audience kind of perched by the TV. So the minute “Grey’s Anatomy” started, it was huge.

“Scandal” took a little more time to get going. But again, it was exciting with both shows, we were able, Shonda was able to create the first 13 episodes of “Grey’s,” and the first seven episodes of “Scandal,” before they even went on the air. So she already had 13 and seven. She already had chunks of content to put out there, that she had time to look at and refine. But “Scandal” was more of a slow-burner.

It started to really hit, which was I think a third through the second season, and a lot of that had to do - and I think everyone on the show would agree - with the fact that, thanks to Kerry Washington and her incredible vision about social media, we started the whole trend of tweeting with the audience, while they were watching the show. And that continues. Last night, in fact, I was with many members of the cast at a benefit in New York and they all had to rush off - I wasn’t in last night’s episode - they all had to rush off to live-tweet the episode. I think that has created a connection with the audience that was so palpable. And again, as per usual, Shonda, and Kerry in this case, created a new template of how to watch TV. And that “Scandal” came along, along with this whole sort of binge thing that’s happening now. Because with Netflix and various ways to watch TV, you can watch seven episodes of “Scandal” over two days… or over one day, if you’re really a lunatic [laughs]. Or any show.

Last year, I was in Nashville, Tennessee, when my daughter was at Bonnaroo, because that’s what I do as a mother, is accompany my daughter to music festivals. And I was sitting around some hair salon, while I was there. And this woman was talking about a show that she was loving. And then they started talking about “Scandal.” It was hilarious. And I thought, “I could freak them out right now” and turn to them and go, “Hello!” And I thought, “I’m going to,” because when do you get to do this? So I said, “I’m so glad you like my show.” And they were like “Oh, my God!!!”

But that’s the thing about TV, of course, it’s in your television, it’s on your computer. It’s a more intimate experience, watching television. And what “Scandal” and all these other wonderful shows - “House of Cards,” “Orange Is The New Black,” “Game of Thrones,” “Breaking Bad” - what they’ve all done is they’ve just created this intimate experience, where you can watch them whenever you like, you can download them, you can put them on later, you can watch half now, half later. You have so many opportunities to watch this extraordinary content that is now all shapes and sizes for all kinds of audiences. It’s really a golden age for television right now. There’s a lot of stuff that’s not great. But I do think there’s a lot of great quality stuff that you’re able to watch now.

PCC:
So is it a different sort of satisfaction you get from doing theatre, where it’s a fleeting moment you have with the audience?

BURTON:
I am from the theatre. I’m a Tony voter. And last week I went to New York and I saw, in my spare time, nine shows in eight days [laughs]. And you know what? It was so thrilling. So, so, so, so thrilling to see all these wonderful plays and musicals. And it made me want to do it. It made me go, “Oh, I’ve got to do some theatre.” And then to get this offer for Shakespeare in the Park was a like a gift from heaven.

But, you know, it is a different experience. It’s, as I say, I complete collaboration with the audience, the theatre is. It has to be, because, of course, live human beings are sitting there. But I think what’s exciting, too, is when you do have the opportunity to do television as I do, then to go to the theatre is a very great thing, to be in a theatrical production and to have the television as well. It’s two very different experiences, because, when you’re making a television show or you’re making a movie, it’s very piecemeal. It’s a little bit here, a little bit there. You’re doing scenes out of order. You just hope to goodness that the editor is going to be brilliant. And we have great editors on both “Scandal” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” but the editor supreme is Ms. Shonda Rimes. So we always know she’s going to take good care of us.

But with theatre, it’s telling the whole story from start to finish every night. And it is a marathon. It’s so funny, because two questions that are always asked of theater actors, A- How do you learn all those lines? And B - How do you do it eight times a week? And John Malkovich, the great Steppenwolf actor, said, “Theatre separates the men from the boys.” That was his term. I would say, the women from the girls, both of us, all of us together. [laughs]. And that’s the thing - to sustain the theatrical performance is huge. It is a marathon. And actors, by our very nature, we just can’t help ourselves, we just have to do it. We have to do it, even though it’s so incredibly hard. And frankly, I’m 57 years old. It’s really, really hard. And it’s getting harder and harder. And my feeling now is, well, I’d better continue to do this theatre thing, because it’s only going to get harder.

I just did an Arthur Miller play at the Mark Taper Forum in L.A. And I just thought, “Goodness, that was really hard.. and that was not even that big a part.” And eight shows a week for six weeks is really, really challenging for me. And in the old days, when I was in my 20s and 30s and early 40s, I did play after play after play after play, one after the other in New York, off-Broadway, on Broadway, regional theatre, summertime theatre. And I literally can’t do that anymore. Although I will say that this is the first time in a very long time that I’m doing two plays in a very close proximity to each other.

But you get these offers for certain plays, like Shakespeare in the Park - and it’s an offer you can’t refuse. You just can’t refuse it. You’ve got to do it. You’ve got to challenge yourself. So it’s a big challenge and I definitely will be shaking in my boots, when I do it, but actors just can’t help it. We have to scare the life out of ourselves [laughs]. We just must do it.

PCC:
Your parents were both actors, your stepfather, your stepmother. Did you know from childhood that was something you wanted to pursue?

BURTON:
It’s funny, actually. In a way, I was very, very lucky, because my father, of course, Richard Burton, was extremely famous when I was growing up. He’d done a ton of theatre before I was born, but then started to do mostly films when I was kind of cognizant of what was going on. My stepmother, Elizabeth Taylor was one of the most famous movie stars in the world… and still is. Even after her death, she’s still considered to be one of the greatest movie stars of all time.

But I grew up in a house with my wonderful Mom, Sybil Christopher, who moved from doing theatre into all other different kinds of things in the 60s. She owned a nightclub, a discotheque called Arthur. She was a literary agent at ICM in L.A. and then became a producer and eventually became an artistic director of a theater in Sag Harbor, New York, called the Bay Street Theatre, which is still going strong.

And then my stepfather, Jordan Christopher, had been a rock ’n’ roll musician [front man in The Wild Ones] and then he became an actor [in such films as “Angel, Angel, Down We Go” and “Brainstorm”], but he was a working actor. And so that’s what I grew up with, my stepfather, who was a working actor. So I watched him in plays. I watched him off-Broadway, on Broadway. He was in television shows. He did the occasional film. So I really saw what the life of a working actor was like. And that was very important, because even though I’ve had great success and I’ve been so blessed, I am a working actor. I do all kinds of things. I have lean times. Right now I am having a very flush experience. But there have been times where there hasn’t been a lot of work. And so I really grew up with that and that was great.

So I really got a reality about what this is, about what show business is, because it’s really a business. And it’s really temperamental. You just absolutely do not know… At the beginning of each year, now that I’m older, I begin with great excitement. I wonder what the year will bring. And nothing could have prepared me for the fact that, at the beginning of this year - I mean, I knew I was going to do the play at Mark Taper Forum, that’s all I knew. I knew nothing else. And when I was just about at the end of the play, I was offered some episodes of “Scandal,” I was offered an episode of “Grey’s.” “Extant” came along. And Shakespeare in the Park. I had no idea that was going to happen. So if you can deal with the roller coaster aspect of it, you’re okay. But if you really can’t deal with the roller coaster aspect of it [laughs], you must do something else, because it is just too crazy. You just never know what’s going to happen.

I’ve started to move a little bit into directing. I’ve just done a few little pieces here and there. I did a piece at the Berkeley Rep, a workshop a few years back. I’ve directed at the MSA program at USC three times. I did two little projects at Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Hall - thrilling. And I’ve just started to put my toe in that water, because I have a feeling that may be something I’ll do a bit more of as I move along.

PCC:
You were able to work with your Dad a few times. Did he give you advice?

BURTON:
Yeah, but Dad was not so thrilled that I wanted to be an actress. Of course, no parent wants this for their child. My own son is a budding actor and writer. It’s tough. My Dad wanted me to do something more stable, of course. But then when he realized that I was serious about it and I was going to give it a try… I said to him, “Look Dad, I’m not going to go out there as your child. I’m going to go to the Yale School of Drama and I’m going to get my MSA and I’m going to do it that way.” And so he knew that I was purposeful.

But yes, we did get to work together. We worked together, doing this sweet, little scene in “Alice In Wonderland” on PBS [1983], where he was the White Knight and I was Alice. And it’s absolutely the sweetest thing on Earth that that scene exists. It’s always there. That’s the beauty of television. And then we did a kind of hilarious mini-series together called “Ellis Island” before he died, where I played his very troubled daughter. And we actually had a wonderful time doing that.

He gave me some great advice about working in front of the camera. I’d never really been in a movie. So I was very theatrical. And he helped me kind of tone it down. And it was great. It was really wonderful. Who knew that that second time would be our last time on camera together? But we didn’t know at the time and we had an incredible time. We were together in England and at Shepperton Studios, which is where I spent a lot of my childhood, sitting in his trailer. So it was magical. It was really great. It was just heavenly. And I’m so thrilled that we had the opportunity to do that together.

PCC:
You actually had a bit in “Anne of a Thousand Days,” too, didn’t you?

BURTON:
I did! I was a little Boleyn maid. And I’m still loving the Tudors. Who doesn’t love the Tudors? Oh, my God! I read those amazing books. I read “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up The Bodies.” Oh, my goodness! And I just saw the two parts on Broadway. And I’m dipping into the television version.

PCC:
And you were able to work with George C. Scott early in your career [in the 1982 Broadway production of Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter,” also Nathan Lane’s Broadway debut]?

BURTON:
Yeah, my first show out of Yale was with George C. Scott. And that’s where I met my husband. He was the stage manager.

PCC:
So was it daunting to be working with someone of Scott’s stature for your first show?

BURTON:
You know what? I kind of knew him, growing up, because I knew his kids somewhat. Working with George was fantastic, because, the truth of it is, you work with great actors and you’re better, honestly. And I’d gotten the opportunity to work with great actors during the summer, when I was at Yale, at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, amazing actors - Frank Langella, Colleen Dewhurst, Edward Herrmann - my beloved, George Morfogen, Blythe Danner, John Glover. I was so lucky, because these were actors I got to work with while I was still at Yale. So when I came out of Yale, after having had my summers at Williamstown, I was very prepared. I was ready to be with someone as great as George C. Scott. And he was fantastic. And he directed the play, as well. So it was absolutely thrilling.

PCC:
How might your approach to acting or your philosophy of acting changed over the years?

BURTON:
I think, as we get older, it just naturally becomes more pragmatic. But I also think the greatest thing about being an actor is that all the training and all the experience and all the times that you’ve been in hugely successful experiences - which are few and far between, by the way - and the hugely unsuccessful experiences - which also I’m glad to say are few and far between - and then everything in between, which is the norm, all those things contribute to you becoming deeper and richer and more yourself. And it’s extraordinary.

Like last week, I had the opportunity to see Helen Mirren in “The Audience.” And she is, of course, an actress who has delighted us with her extraordinary performances my entire life. And I think she’s in her late 60s. And the next night, I saw Carey Mulligan in “Skylight” and she is such a stupendous young theatre actress. I’ve seen her before in “The Seagull.” She’s so extraordinary and so profoundly wonderful. And they’re both so wonderful. And you think, “My goodness, decades separate them and yet, they’re two of the most glorious performances you could hope to see in any theater anywhere. And I just thought, “Well, isn’t that interesting?” All that experience for Helen Mirren, to watch her, she’s an idol of mine, I just think, “My goodness, that is what I can aspire to.” I’m not that much younger than her - only a little bit more than a decade. And I think, “Well, my goodness, she’s still going strong. She’s still playing these great parts. She’s still doing all kinds of projects.” It’s very exciting.

I feel like all that experience really helps you. It deepens you. And it also makes you have the ability to say, “Oh, wait a moment, I don’t really know what I’m doing at this moment.” Or “I don’t know what I’m doing in this scene.” The great thing about acting is you never stop searching. You never stop learning, which is what makes it such a vibrant thing to do, because you’re always challenged. You’re always finding new things.

Blythe Danner, who is another one of my idols, is having an extraordinary success with the film that she did. I just read an article on her in the New York Times, where she said, “I finally learned how to be a leading lady in film.” And Blythe has always been a great mentor for me, since I was a very, very young actress and she was also a very young actress. So you just have to keep chugging along, because who knows what’ll happen? And I honestly feel, by the same token, that if I were never to work again as an actress, I would really feel fantastic about the work that I’ve done, the things I’ve been able to do. And I just feel so blessed that I get to continue doing it. I’m very grateful for the experiences that I’ve had.

PCC:
In the process of learning about the craft and learning about each of the many diverse characters you’ve played, have you also learned a great deal about yourself?

BURTON:
Oh, sure. My mother always used to say, “Everybody, whether they’re lawyers, doctors, financial people, plumbers, janitors, should all go to drama school [laughs], because it’s like therapy for three years. Everybody should go to drama school, because that’s what you have to do. You can’t stand aside from yourself. You have to be in your own boots. But I will also say it is the most glorious way to spend one’s working life, because real life is the hardest thing in the world. I have two children and being a mother to my most extraordinary kids is the greatest challenge I could have, as a person. I would give it all up for my children to have all that they would want in their lives. And I think any mother who’s an actress or father who’s an actor would say the same thing.

I think the most important thing, at the end of the day, is to have a life, is to have a vibrant personal life. And I’ve been so blessed, because I’ve been married to my husband, Michael Ritchie, who runs the Taper and the Ahmanson in L.A., for 30 phenomenal years. And I have two incredible kids. So my work life is fantastic and it’s given me so much, but my real life is the most rewarding and extraordinary thing. And you’ve got to have that, because, if you don’t have that in your life, then your theatrical life or your work life becomes overly important, too important. At the end of the day, the greatest thing, when you’re playing some fantastic role, is to come home and see the faces of your kids.

PCC:
At this point in your career, what are the most rewarding aspects of life as an actor?

BURTON:
The other day, I got to do a scene with Jeff Perry in “Scandal,” which was so wonderfully written, when we went to read it at the table read, which is where we read the TV show for the first time in front of everybody, we turned to each other at the end of the scene and we were like, “Oh, my God, who knew?” We’re like in our 50s and our 60s, it’s like, “How do we still get to do such extraordinary stuff at this age?” That’s really rewarding. And then when you shoot it, you’re on a wing and a prayer, because you don’t know if it’s going to come across. And I really did think it came across. And I was so happy, when I saw it. I thought, “Well, there it is… forever.” So that’s really rewarding.

And then being in a great play is rewarding. I just did “The Price” by Arthur Miller with three of my favorite actors on Earth - Sam Robards. John Bedford Lloyd and Alan Mandell. And we did it at the Mark Taper Forum, which is an incredible theatre. It happens to be run by my husband [laughs]. And we knew that we really delivered that play. And it’s a beautiful, amazing play by Arthur Miller that doesn’t get done very often. It’s just a fantastic play. And I’m so happy we delivered that play every night. You can really feel the audience just enraptured by this extraordinary play by one of our greatest writers. And they don’t know it, because they only know the famous four - “The Crucible,” “The Bridge,” “Death of a Salesman” and “All My Sons” - those are the famous Arthur Miller plays. But isn’t great to do another play by an incredible writer? It doesn’t get better than that. It’s just so great.

And “Selected Shorts,” reading those stories in front on enraptured audiences. So also what’s wonderful is the variety of what we get to do as actors, that it’s just not one thing every day. It’s some television, some film, some theatre, some “Selected Shorts,” reading books on tape, all different kinds of things - it’s just exciting to have that sense of variety.

PCC:
You’ve really managed to find so many great possibilities.

BURTON:
That’s who I am as a person. I’ve left no stone unturned [laughs].

PCC:
And the films - you made a lasting impression in a supporting role in “127 Hours.”

BURTON:
Now that was an incredible experience, because the truth of it is, there’s a third of that movie you never saw, because we shot another huge chunk after he gets rescued. And those were all my biggest scenes, all my scenes with James, other things that we did, the press conferences. We shot all that. We had the experience of shooting it with Danny Boyle. And honestly, even though he ended up deciding to cut after Aron gets rescued, still it was one of the most extraordinary experiences I’ve had as an actress, to work with Danny Boyle, to see the way he works, the way James Franco works, being in Salt Lake City, being in Moab, Utah. It was just an unbelievable experience. I’ll never forget it. So even though so much of it didn’t make it into the movie, he did actually use some of the scenes as DVD extras, which I was thrilled about.

As an actor, the biggest differences between film, TV and theatre is that in theatre, you’re in the moment, you’re on stage, the audience is there and then, when it’s over, it’s over. Film, your experience of making the film is the experience that you’re having as an actor. The experience of sitting in a theater, watching it all put together, is another experience, because then you’re an audience member. So, as an actor, my experience of “127 Hours” is actually making the film. And that was a sublime experience.

The thing about TV that’s different is, if you get the opportunity to play parts like I have, recurring, like in “Grey’s Anatomy” and ”Scandal,” then, of course, you’re playing the character in many different little movies. And that’s unlike anything else that you do, because you’re doing the same character. Every week they’re handing you new scenes. And that’s extraordinary. So they’re really three very different experiences for actors. People think it’s all the same, but it’s really quite different from each other.

PCC:
And you enjoy the variety of challenges.

BURTON:
I love each one for its own merits. I really do.

PCC:
You have a couple of films nearing release?

BURTON:
I have a film that was at the Tribeca Film Festival, which I’ve seen only scenes from, but that I was really happy with, called “Bleeding Heart,” directed by Diane Bell and that’s with Zosia Mamet and Jessica Biel. And I did some post-production for that, so I got to see little scenes from it. I’ve never seen the film. And then I also did a short film with a lovely young director called Carlos Lopez Estrada. That’s called “Identity Theft.” That just played at the Newport Film Festival and a few other festivals around. And that’s with Bill Irwin. And that was a wonderful experience, a short tiny little experience, but wonderful. A sweet little movie.

PCC:
And I noticed a film called “Martyrs”?

BURTON:
Oh, “Martyrs.” Oh, Jesus. Ay-yi-yi! Oh, my God! I shot that last fall. Oh, good heavens. I don’t even know what to say about that. I mean, that was so intense. And it was with a beautiful actress called Troian Bellisario from “Pretty Little Liars.” She’s a lovely actress. I had done a film with her, when she was a student at USC. But in “Martyrs,” I play this terrible woman. So bad! [Laughs] And it’s all about she and another girl have been kidnapped and tortured. Tortured! Oh, my God, I play a torturer. I play a person who completely sanctions torture [laughs]. It’s horrible! I cannot even begin to describe.

PCC:
And another listed as being in post-production called “Amok” with Josh Hamilton, Juliet Rylance and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio?

BURTON:
Oh, my goodness! Oh, I don’t know what happened with that. I did that so long ago. I’m sure that disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The thing I did this year, which was really interesting, that I’m very proud of, is something called “Full Circle” for DirecTV’s network. Nick Hamm is the Executive Producer. I was directed by him and also Stephen Gyllenhaal [father of Jake and Maggie], a wonderful director, also directed me a couple of times. And it’s 10 half-hour dramatic episodes. And it’s 10 characters. And I played opposite Stacy Keach and Eric McCormack. And it can be viewed on the Audience Network on DirecTV. But I was really proud of that. That was an incredibly interesting experience, very intense. We shot tons and tons of material every day. It was so powerful. The material was great, by this great Chicago writer, Keith Huff. Oh, my God! And it was just so well done and we did it so fast. I saw the first couple episodes and I thought they were really excellent.

But you know, the other thing that happens to me that’s just weird is I don’t get an opportunity to watch all my stuff. Like I haven’t seen a lot of my own work [laughs] on TV. Like I said to you, after I finish shooting it, I’m kind of done. It’s very rare that I will sit and watch. I mean, I’ve watched all of “Scandal.” I’m caught up with “Scandal.” But I haven’t watched anything that I’ve shot on “Grey’s Anatomy” this year, which is kind of strange. What can I say? [Laughs]

PCC:
You had mentioned how much it meant to you to have “Alice in Wonderland” available for viewing. That’s all part of your life you can recapture.

BURTON:
If it exists, I will nab it. And sometimes I find myself watching like old episodes of “Law & Order.” And I’ll go, “Oh, look, there I am!” And I’m like 28. That’s actually strange. And Alice - it’s strange having that experience of watching yourself as such a young actor.

PCC:
With all you’ve learned about the craft, are you consciously trying to pass that along to the next generations?

BURTON:
Oh, yes, whenever I work with young actors. I love working with young actors. I love it, love it. I love going to see them. And sweetly, I’ve had a lot of very nice experiences, where they’ve turned to me and said, “Oh, what was it like to work with George C. Scott?” And that’s what we do as actors. We pass on the information.